When do you think Serie A will be able to compete again?

[FuFuLamePoo]

In the 90s Serie A was the best league hands down.  It was super competitive and probably the best league of all time.... EVERY serie A team had a world class player.  I mean heck Hagi left Real Madrid for Brescia.  Maradona played for Napoli, the league was stacked top to bottom.   This year only one team from serie a made it to the knockout rounds of the champions league and that's Juventus.  

 

It's crazy how far Serie A has fallen when you really think about it, really Italian soccer in general.  I mean the Azzuri didn't make it out of the group in the 2010 or 2014 world cup, although they did win it in 2006.  It's really interesting to read up on this because the downfall has been pretty surprising.

 

I think what could help Italy is hosting a big tournament like the Euro.  That would improve some of the infrastructure there and could be a step in the right direction.  Juventus built a new stadium that opened in 2011 and now they are the class of the Serie A.  I mean... both AC Milan and Inter Milan have won a champions league in the past decade but they share a stadium. Although I've heard they've thought about building new stadiums.  I mean I wasn't alive for this but from what I've read the BPL was slumping in the 90s then England hosted the Euro in 1996 and it began to improve after that.  

 

Even in the 2000s Milan had some incredible teams, but then in 2006 you had the Calciopoli Scandal which was kinda the final nail in the coffin for the Serie A.  It's just gotten worse since, I mean yeah you had Inter's fluke run to win the champions league in 2010 but other than that..... that league just isn't what it used to be.  But these things happen, the league will be back one day. Question is... when?  And what do you think needs to happen

[DirtyMagic97]

A lot needs to happen for Serie A to rise to prominence again. For one, a few clubs need a massive influx of funds. Financial takeovers similar to City and Chelsea. I know many think that sort of thing is killing the sport, but unfortunately it's too far gone to change that aspect. Money talks in European football.

 

I also think they need to stamp out racism, which is deeply rooted in Italian culture. Clubs are finding it harder to lure stars from other leagues who Italians consider to be from an "undesirable race" and it's sad.

 

Italian sides also need to form some sort of an identity. Recently, the biggest clubs in the world have had an identity, while Italian sides have just said "let's play some defense" and move on. To me, that's not enough.

 

And on a somewhat smaller scale, the Italian economy has to improve. It is utter gobshite right now, so not a lot of fans can afford tickets, merchandise, etc. Makes it hard to justify clubs spending tons of money on quality players.

[Goondal]

It will not happen any time soon.  The answer to the question how how they can come back is the same as the answer to 99 questions out of 100...money

[Ja Rhule]

The country is broke and corrupt.  No one wants to invest big money in Italy right now.

[gettlemanjack]

scene at 4-time defending Italian National Champions Juventus' brand-new €105 million stadium (opened 2011) in Turin, Italy yesterday before Juve's 2-1 CL Semifinal victory over Real Madrid: